#it’s perfectly ok to not like a ship for whatever reason you may have

[comradekarin]

not to be radical on main but y’all do know that black female characters can have love interests right? that they don’t need to be “protected” by the fandom? or that they can be independent but still experience any type of love? that they might not “need” a man per se but they might want one? that they don’t need to be coddled and treated like children when they aren’t? that they can have complex, nuanced relationships that aren’t “pure” and your picture perfect idea of “healthy” just like their white counterparts? that being in a lesbian relationship isn’t the only good rep for black girls? i don’t think y’all know because these goofy ahh takes im seeing-

[jinkieswouldyoulookatthis]

Anti-destiel Wank (sorry but I have to)

If you hardcore ship Destiel, please just scroll on by. Please.

Ok, I'm gonna get myself in trouble, I'm sure, but I gotta get this off my chest...

Destiel may be a perfectly fine ship,

but,

IT'S JUST A SHIP.

In the actual context of the show there IS NO ROMANTIC OR SEXUAL TENSION/RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN DEAN AND CAS.*

Full fucking stop.

Subtext can be interpreted in ANY WAY YOU WANT. It is subjective. You will find whatever you look for in it. Please stop waving subtext interpretations around as if they were objective facts, they aren't. Subtext, by its very definition, relies on implied meaning and understanding, this means it is a subjective interpretation of the media that varies from viewer to viewer. The inherent variations are what make it fanon/headcanon instead of canon.

If you see tension of that sort there and it makes you happy to postulate the what if, then go ahead, that is what fanon and head canon and fan fiction is all about. But if the fact that the tension you think you see isn't being addressed in actual canon makes you grumpy, maybe you need to take some of the fanatic out of your fanning. If you are beginning to think the show creators are actively trying to repress Dean's "true sexuality and feelings" because they are evil, you might need to consider that you've dug in too deep.

Because, like I ship wincest. Yeah, I said it. But I am aware that canon doesn't actually include any level of sexual or romantic (in the modern sense) relationship between Sam and Dean. Wincest is not canon.

Now, are Sam and Dean the real "love" story of the show? Yes, yes they are. That has always been 100% the entire point of Supernatural, the great love story of two brothers struggling to save the world together. It's about family and everything that means, but at its heart, it is about Sam and Dean WInchester. Not all kisses and cuddles and sex kind of love, but love nonetheless. Full stop.

Now, the fact that Destiel is such a popular ship is not surprising to me in the least. Jensen and Misha are two gorgeous guys who share a lot of chemistry on screen and off. And, it is canon that Cas loves Dean. That has been evident since Lazarus Rising (4x01) when Cas was introduced. Castiel's love of Dean Winchester has been his character's main motivation all along and culminated with Cas sacrificing himself to save Dean, after telling him that he loved him in Despair (15x18)

But Dean's main motivation has always been to watch out for his brother. And though Castiel became Dean's best friend, he still comes second to Sam. Nothing against Cas, he just isn't Sam.

So why are so many people so absolutely convinced that Destiel is so real within the context of the story?

Well, I'm pretty sure that it is the same reason that they are so opposed to the idea of wincest.

As we all know, incest is bad, mmmkay? Incest is probably one of the biggest, strongest, cultural taboos we have. So it makes perfect sense that the idea of two blood-related brothers having sexual or romantic feelings for each other is considered icky. It's so off putting that it is a complete no go for even fantasizing about for most people. And that's probably a good thing, tbh, incest should be taboo. But where does that taboo spring from? Why is it so deeply off limits? There are several reasons, but the two main ones are:

That incest can lead to inbreeding.

That incest too often involves molestation or rape of children.

Both of these are seriously bad enough that we all pretty much collectively agree to avoid incestuous relationships. But, do either of these two reasons really apply in the case of Sam and Dean?

The short answer is no. Primarily this is because they are fictional characters that are being played by unrelated actors. But to humor the objectors we'll look at it closer.

We can take the first one right off the table. As two cis men, neither of them is capable of becoming pregnant, so outside of the mpreg (male pregnancy) or gender bending subsets of fanfic tropes, this is not applicable.

The second reason only becomes an issue when talking about the characters earlier in their lives, pre-show or flashbacks. Weecest or teencest, or whatever, are things, but these typically have separate ship names for a reason, because even when dealing with fictional characters this squicks a lot of folks who are otherwise down with the wincest ship. So most content is tagged or labeled as its specific flavor, so anyone can find it or avoid it. But wincest that involves adult Sam and Dean (the specific pairing I'm referring to in this post) doesn't apply to the second reason listed above.

So there really is nothing morally wrong with Sam and Dean having sex with each other. I know that statement is going to bother a whole lot of people, but it is true. Just because something is taboo does not automatically make it morally wrong. Being gay used to be taboo in our culture, and is still taboo for way too many people, even though there is nothing morally wrong with homosexuality.

Now, I wasn't in the fandom back at the beginning of the show, but I've heard tell that the very first Sam/Dean fic was posted just a few hours after the pilot episode aired. A few hours, that's all it took for some highly motivated fan to type out a story where they were more than just brothers. The story is called Reunion. If you watch the pilot, even with your anti-incest goggles on, the chemistry between Jared and Jensen is palpable throughout. There is a reason the show lasted for 15 years, and that reason is that Sam and Dean just work on screen so well together. So if it only took one episode for that ship to be born, what did all the future destiel shippers do? Well I imagine they felt somewhat uncomfortable for the first 60 episodes.

Flash forward to season four and the introduction of Castiel. Finally there was another male character for fans squicked by the notion of sweet, sweet brother loving to focus on! Cas was clearly fixated on Dean more than Sam, which followed the plot since Cas had been instructed to rescue Dean from Hell. As it would turn out, the brothers were destined to be the meatsuits that Michael and Lucifer wore to the big prize fight to determine the fate of the world. Prepping Sam for Lucifer involved him consuming demon blood, which made most of the angelic host view him as an abomination, a factor that Cas had to learn to get past in his relationship with the younger brother. But Dean was ready to go right out of the box, no assembly required for Michael. Castiel, and many of his angelic brethren, as well as a lot of Demons, seem to be drawn to Dean in a way that they just aren't drawn to Sam. Is this fair? Hell no. But I mean, look at him! Jensen has sexual tension with literally everything he comes in contact with, people, food, his car, the man oozes sexual attraction. Don't get me wrong, Jared is a sexy fucking ball of sunshine, and our Sammy is a damned attractive man, but he tends to be more repressed and less openly sexual than his brother, so it is what it is.

Where was I going with this? That's a good question. I got a bit distracted, sorry. Oh right...

At its root, destiel is a reactive projection. There is undeniable tension between characters in the show. Since all of the main cast are male, that tension is highly homoerotic. The two main characters, who are undeniably emotionally enmeshed and co-dependent with each other (a very well established canon fact btw), happen to be blood-related brothers. Oh no! Where is all that tension coming from since we cannot admit or accept that it's coming from them? Ah ha! Here is a new male character that we like, yes, it is obviously coming from his interactions with one of the brothers, even though he wasn't in the first 60 episodes. Yes, it all makes perfect sense now, all that tension was merely foreshadowing.

I've read through all the destiel subtext posts. I've gone back and watched all the scenes they reference multiple times with the express purpose of finding destiel. I'm telling you it is just a fanon ship. Which is 100% fine and good, ship that ship, just stop declaring it more canon than canon, because it's not.

And if you don't like fictional incest, cool, cool, you don't have to. But the underlying sexual tension existed in the first 60 episodes prior to Misha being cast on the show, so it was coming from somewhere. And it'd be cooler if you learned how to scroll past people shipping wincest, like I'm sure you do for all the other weirdass, squicky shit that people post all over the internet. But if it makes your heart beat a little faster to imagine that Dean and Cas have eyesex but that Dean and Sam don't, that's fine. I think it's delusional because neither ship is actually canon and both are 100% A-Ok in fanon, and honestly Jensen doesn't seem to be able to control his eyes, which is not something anyone should feel bad about (it's fucking marvelous) but you do you.

*Castiel does love Dean. He confessed as much, but Dean did not reciprocate. What I am referencing is a mutual romance or attraction, which does not exist.

[olderthannetfic]

https://www.tumblr.com/olderthannetfic/758355990597025792/the-way-people-talk-about-first-person-narrative

This is a very stupid take because the way a story is told ABSOLUTELY changes the way the story 'feels', including the perspective it is told from, and it's perfectly normal to have preferences, even strong ones. Like, would you say the same thing about first person POV vs third in video games? Or can you not understand that the way a narrative is viewed (through one character's eyes vs following one character from a distance vs viewing all characters from a greater distance even as certain things get story focus) will change how it reads to the reader and therefore certain perspectives may be more grating than others?

Sure, good writing can make the difference, but good writing can also make me enjoy a trope or relationship dynamic or plotline I would otherwise dislike, that doesn't mean I don't have preferences it just means good enough writing can overcome them!

Authors choose first or third person, the pov character, present or past tense, vocabulary and tone, complexity of sentence structure, pacing, and other meta things like that based on the way they serve the story that's being told.

Ok, and? Authors choose ships, what the fic is about, and the medium and genre (like poetry or readerfic), and everything else you think people are allowed to hate, based on the way they serve the story being told, too! If I think the way the story is told is ass or the writing isn't good enough to overcome my dislike for the perspective of the writing (or my dislike for the genre or the medium or the ship or or or) then it really doesn't matter why the author chose to write things this way. I don't have to like something just because it was chosen with intent rather than done 'just because' (although plenty of people choose viewpoint perspective based on vibes or what they prefer writing, not everyone sits down and thinks 'well gee what will best serve the story???' and to be clear there's nothing wrong with this, especially for fic! but picking POV is no more sacred than picking a ship or whatever and the choice can still be disliked just by virtue of not liking that particular tool of storytelling!), and if someone isn't a good enough writer to make up for the reasons I dislike first person, then I'm just not gonna read their stuff!

Which is fine, they don't need me to, it's no great loss on either side. But it is, in fact, 'a separate thing [I] can hate'. And that opinion hasn't changed even though I have found the occasional exception to that general rule which I do enjoy.

--

This part of fandom is extremely weird about first person. It's inevitable that there are going to be posts pointing that out.

[shewolf-sinclair]

making this a full post because i’m realizing not enough people understand this (this was something i commented on another post)

Regarding all the information we have on S2’s lack of romantic interests or themes for wednesday, it’s not to say there will never be any romantic elements especially in later seasons. But a lot of people, jenna included, don’t think it makes sense for Wednesday’s character for that to be a main focus right now. People hated the s1 love triangle, and while I see why (i am not referring to shipping wars) it was at least beneficial to the plot. (I say all of this as a multishipper) Wednesday (character and show) isn’t opposed to romance but it’s just not a priority which makes a lot of sense when you do the character work/study. I think to an extent the writers realize this, and the main reason they added it in the first season was plot development, and trying to cater to a gen Z audience. Such attempts made a lot of people, even those of us who love the show dearly, call many parts of it cringe. Because it was gen z culture but not in a natural way. it was over the top and forced. And I think they’re finding the same issue with how they wrote the romacey stuff. so they’re gonna dial it down. it may be added again later, but if so it’ll be laid back. not the forefront and main focus, and it will occur gradually as to be more realistic and representative of our generation which is what they are trying to achieve. You have to keep in mind that while all ages watch the show, it is YA and initially intended for people in and around highschool age. And I love them for making this decision (I say this as a hardcore shipper)

yes wenclair shippers this includes you too (while i personally dislike wenclair this is not a dig at the ship. but y’all need to realize it is equally unrealistic as any other ship rn)

That being said, while the show is trying to add less romance centered themes and plots, I need y’all to have some media literacy. It’s one thing (and perfectly ok) to headcannon wednesday as aroace for whatever reason you like. but please also understand that doesn’t give you the right to force that interpretation on other people. “but look at wednesday she hates everyone no way she could ever love someone/be in a relationship!” I beg you to look at any other Addams family media ever and learn her character. I made a whole post about it here.

However that post never really went in depth enough. It also didn’t mention the addams family musical (my beloved).

Wednesday has a stone cold demeanor but that is strategic. It doesn’t mean she doesn’t have feelings. We even witnessed them in the show several times. She felt anger in episode 1 when her brother was bullied. Disgust with her parents. Fear with Rowan. Intrigue as well. We later see exhibits of excitement with Fester and sadness and loneliness with Enid.

So now that we’ve established she actually feels things lets dig deeper. “She’s disgusted by her parents she hates romance!” wrong! She hates watching her parents suck face. no teenager wants to see their parents do that. its gross. She also has a strained relationship with them which makes it worse. We know she doesn’t like things she can’t understand, and in this iteration she hasn’t really experienced romance or romantic attraction before. So she likely doesn’t fully understand it (yet) and this outwardly rejects it. Which is partly why she is so skeptical when Enid gushes about Ajax. However throughout the season as she experiences similar feelings firsthand in regards to Tyler, she becomes less put off by others expressing affection. Though I do standby the idea she likely despises PDA.

She may not explicitly want it but she is in fact capable.

[creativewhizkid]

𝚒𝚗𝚝𝚛𝚘𝚍𝚞𝚌𝚝𝚒𝚘𝚗

hello, you can call me twistysoup or just twisty! i am a multifandom digital/tradtional artist who will be using this blog for (inconsistently uploaded) art and rambles. please read the rest of my pinned before you interact !

𝚒𝚖𝚙𝚘𝚛𝚝𝚊𝚗𝚝 / 𝚋𝚎𝚏𝚘𝚛𝚎 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚏𝚘𝚕𝚕𝚘𝚠:

• I am a minor.

• please be atleast 14 years old before you decide to follow me

• please use tone indicators around me, i have a hard time understanding context/tone through a screen

• please do not follow me if you talk about negativity of my comfort characters and or kins, it's genuinely hard for me to see/read. try tagging it, please.

• do not bring any sort of hate onto this blog. i just wanna have a silly and fun time here

• please tell me if i am following a problematic individual, and i will unfollow said individual. i would never purposefully follow someone who has done something bad, i may just be unaware of said hypothetical bad actions

• please do not have tumblrs default pfp/banner, i will assume you are a bot and block you

• i highly ask to not drag me into any hypothetical drama, or talk about it around me, just don't involve me in it. it stresses me out.

• if you don't like me or somethings that i do, don't rant and insult me about it in anon, just leave me alone.

• self-shipping and or SFW age regression blogs are welcome here

i cannot stress this enough: i do not give anyone permission to repost, trace or steal my art onto any platforms for any reason, even if credit is given. there are NO exceptions to this.

things about me:

• twisty

• minor

• aroace quoiromantic

• they/them pronouns, she/her is for irl mootz only.

• i ramble about my hyperfixations a lot

𝚒𝚗𝚝𝚎𝚛𝚎𝚜𝚝𝚜:

• don't hug me i'm scared

• my little pony: friendship is magic

• undertale + au's

• five night's at freddy's

• murder drones

• how to train your dragon

• helluva boss / hazbin hotel

• the amazing digital circus

• heathers: the musical

• the hunger games (books & films)

• puppets

• kidcore / dreamcore / weirdcore

• animation

• kung fu panda

• the osc (object show community)

• my oc's

• my great appreciation for soundtracks

• the elder scrolls (mainly TES V: Skyrim)

• radiohead

• Alex G

• countryballs/polandball

• anything space related

𝚝𝚊𝚐𝚜:

• art tag: twisty draws

• ramble/me just talking about things tag: twisty rambles

• vent tag (if i ever use it): twisty vents

• me asking questions tags: twistys questions

• rant tag: twisty rants

• headcanon tag: twisty's headcanons

• me answering stuff tag: twisty answers

• my ocs tag: twisty’s ocs

(IMPORTANT) 𝙳𝙽𝙸:

if you are any of these you are not welcome here.

• basic dni criteria ( racist, sexist, homo/lgbtphobic, transphobic, ableists, terfs/swerfs, pedophiles/"maps", zoophiles )

• nsfw/fetish blogs

• hate blogs

• if you romanticize/idealize problematic individuals

• proship/anti antis/profics and or whatever else they go by

• nft or anything affiliated with it supporter

• "cringe" culture supporter

• fujoshis

• ai """""""artists""""""" (or supporter of such)

• aromantic and or asexual exclusionists

• non-binary exclusionists

• pansexual exclusionists

• exclusionists in general

• anti-palestine/pro-israel

• ship real people

• prolifers

• anti self-diagnosis

• nsfw/weird dsmp fans

• NSFW age regression blogs ( sfw age-regression blogs are perfectly ok :^) )

• anything that associates with yandere content, it makes me highly uncomfortable.

• anti neopronouns / xenogenders

• shota/lolicons

• transmeds / truscums

𝚔𝚒𝚗𝚜:

• sketchbook (dhmis)

• applejack (my little pony: friendship is magic)

• peridot (steven universe)

• uzi doorman (murder drones)

• kate the chaser (slender: the arrival)

• charlotte emily (fnaf game and novels)

• the puppet (fnaf 2)

• L.E.F.T.E / lefty (fnaf:ps)

• ghost-spider/spider-gwen (marvel comics/spider-verse films)

• katniss everdeen (the hunger games)

• heather mcnamara (heathers: the musical)

• kalahari (my skyrim oc)

• taco (bfb)

• coffee and frappé (my animatronic ocs)

• lightbulb (ii)

• octavia goetia (helluva boss)

• lute (hazbin hotel)

• gangle (the amazing digital circus)

• cinderpelt (warrior cats)

• sans (UNDERSWAP)

• the riverperson (UNDERTALE)

that's it :]

[fabdante]

idk if anyone's getting my asks bc tumblr is ✨️like that✨️ but anyway for the fanfic ask game-

7, 42, and 46

ok ok so hi! hi, very late to answer this because tumblr did not send these to me until today, several months later? but its ok because i have the ask now and i tracked down the meme in question! thank you for sending these in!!

a link to the fan fic ask game!

7. Any worldbuilding you’re particularly proud of?

In some ATLA stuff I've been working on, I've been enjoying adding some more West Asia to things. There's not a lot of West Asian/North African influence on the show, but it's there (particularly with the Sand Benders) and I think it's fun to explore and add some more nuance to! Particularly because in both shows the Sand Benders are not really...presented with any nuance.

So I've been having fun adding more West Asia to the Earth Kingdom, particularly foods and different little cultural things here and there to bring more of that influence in! Especially because I think large parts of the fandom don't realize like...that this stuff is already in the show, that West Asia is part of Asia, and perhaps we would like to be presented as a little more then 'those horrible evil irredeemable desert people who stole Appa'.

(I also answered this one back in May with a somewhat different answer if you want to check that out!)

42. Have you ever received a comment that particularly stood out to you for whatever reason?

I also answered this in May but I have a new answer.

Since this ask was sent I posted my fic An Inexact Science and all the comments there were very sweet and kind however I also got this one bot that kills me:

Like....what does this mean asdfghjk is this good or bad?

46. Do you prefer writing on your phone or on a computer (or something else)? Do you think where you write affects the way you write?

I'm really really bad at typing on my phone (like can barely make it through a word without one typo at least bad) so I use my computer most of the time. I have also been extremely won over by Scrivener as it fits in perfectly with my typical writing process that I've had since I first started writing on the computer in like...middle school.

With art and writing I tend to start many projects at once and jump rapidly between them. Either due to not wanting to write a certain part, feeling like writing a certain mood or ship or character, or feeling a sudden burst of inspiration for something. So Scrivener definitely enables me to write this way due to how it's set up for you to write different things in sections and flip between them easily. All of my one shots are in one document and I just file through them accordingly. If a one shot gets too big though, I make it's own document for ease of editing and flipping between parts! If I didn't write on my computer I definitely wouldn't do this, it'd be a lot more work I think.

However I do sometimes write on my phone, mostly exclusively if I'm away from my computer and have an idea I NEED to get down. Ironically, sometimes this is some of my most fun stuff, probably because it's the type of writing that I just need to get out and that stuff is always the coolest I think.

thank you again for sending this ask!! and I'm sorry it took me until now to get to it I have no idea why it never sent and then decided to now like...several months later! But it was a delight to find!! (and I hope you don't mind me tagging you @judging-seahorse I just want to make sure you see that I finally saw this asdfghjkl)

[troutfur]

Your turn in the ask game: 8, 12, and 23

Ask game

It's only fair! Let's go!

8. common fandom opinion that everyone is wrong about

OK OK OK! I may be running my mouth on something I'm absolutely not qualified to talk about since I know The Broken Code only secondhand. BUT! I feel like I've been pulled out into an alternate reality whenever I see people going "Ooh, but why is there a stigma to Rootspring's ghost powers? They should be seeing him as a prophet" or stuff like that.

From my vantage point that seems to be such a consensus. It makes me want to pull out my hair! It's like...

GUYS!

These powers are rooted in a religion foreign to Clan cats. It's essentially witchcraft, in the more anthropological sense where the term describes "deviant" religion. Demonizing perfectly normative religious practices of foreigners like that has clear historical parallels going back to Classical Greece.

Also like, pulling from Trees Root's, the one source of Sisters content I've actually read, a big deal is made out of the fact their gender binaristic afterlife and their spirit mediumship abilities fall along a Heaven/Earth axis. If Sister tom abilities are about speaking to earthbound male spirits as opposed to Sister she-cats who commune with stellar female spirits no fucking duh the culture with a moral binaristic afterlife system in which being among the stars means you're a good guy would interpret his abilities as evil.

I keep saying I one day need to actually read The Broken Code to assess the situation as it is portrayed because I'm sure I'm thinking this more thoroughly than the authors and that they probably botched every aspect of the execution. But all of the above connections just seem so obvious to me and make me think that Rootspring is easily the most conceptually compelling of the three protags of TBC.

12. the unpopular character that you actually like and why more people should like them

Oddly I feel that at least in my circles pretty much all characters are given their due! I don't know if it's a testament to my ability to curate my own spaces or if I just happen to be in a very specific opinion bubble. I have been staring at this question for the better part of an hour and this has singlehandedly delayed the posting of this ask in hopes I could find an answer. I think it's time to let it go.

23. ship you've unwillingly come around to

You bring SquirreSol into my house I'm biting your ankles.

LIKE! I have spoken recently about how I'm not a big fan of the Squilf's random man of the month phenomenon. And really Sol just seems like the apex of that trend. What fucking reason do they have to even interact? No, I'm not indulging whatever dynamic you imagine until you give me a goddamn answer.

I really wouldn't mind if this wasn't such a established trend with Squilf specifically and the context surrounding her. And as it is the most I'll do if I come across it in the wild is seethe in private. But I really do not want it brought up to me in any way. Take it the fuck away!

[magickastiel]

Please mob boss cas and babygirld dean fic rec list?!

i'm so sorry this has taken me so long!! i read some more bc i wanted to make sure i had a decent list

putting this under a cut because most of these are nsfw 👀

russian mob cas x babygirl dean fics recs ⬇️

ok here goes! for some reason, mob!cas and omegaverse go hand in hand in the fanfic world, so i've seperated this lil list into normal au and omegaverse because i know it makes some people uncomfy!!

normal au:

i'll come for you (rating: explicit | warnings: violence | complete) this one is next on my list to read so i can't give it a definite seal of approval but it sounds very interesting!!

Castiel is a member of the Bratva who holds a lot of power inside and out of prison. Dean is a former Army medic whose big mouth got him into deep trouble with the Aryan brotherhood just weeks into his sentence. He needs protection, or his measly two years in lockup could end as a death sentence.

life is a highway (rating: explicit | warnings: none | complete) dean is oblivious and hot for an accent. cas is violently hashtag girlbossing his life

The one where Dean falls for fellow student Cas, who’s so much more than first perceived. Will Dean be able to live with the secret once revealed, or will it doom them both?

rule one (rating: unrated (i'd say mature) | warnings: none | complete) short oneshot which i would love more of! dean is the prison babygirl and cas has dibs

There were only a few rules to prison. Some were the stuff you saw in movies: keep your head down, spend as little time in the showers as possible, etc. And some were specific to the George Hoyt Correctional Facility (aka Purgatory): the guards usually overlooked contraband porn mags if you let them have one, if TJ is on kitchen duty do not eat the mashed potatoes. And most importantly: you do not fucking touch Dean Winchester.

angels like you (rating: explicit | warnings: violence | incomplete) it looks like this one may have been abandoned but i've subbed just in case because i really liked where it was going!

Dean Winchester's trip for a drink turns into so much more when he visits the Red Room, a shithole strip club right in the center of the city. Run by Castiel Krushnic, the leader of the Russian mob, it's a hotspot for booze, sex, drugs, and for-hire mercenaries. But Dean doesn't know that- he's just moved here. Yet, in his first week in the city, he's already attracted the attention of Krushnic himself- which can only spell trouble, in a town like this one.

look what you made me do (rating: explicit | warnings: graphic violence | complete) despite the serious and dramatic summary, this one is VERY fun. a dark romantic comedy if you will

Dean watches, terrified, as blood coats the door–his knuckles depositing more and more of it with every knock. “Come on, Cas, open up.” Panicked, he looks back over his shoulder, the dead of night feeling less comforting and more like it’s about to bust wide open at any second. How could he be so stupid?

hit on me (rating: mature | warnings: none | complete) this is super cute! dean and cas are both just trying to do their jobs with mixed results

Dean had a standing date every Thursday night with an incredibly attractive Russian businessman. Well, “date” may have been a little misleading, given that Dean was at work and the Russian businessman was someone Dean waited on. Whatever Dean could think what he wanted about it in the privacy of his own head.

perfectly capable crime lord (rating: teen | warnings: none | complete) i'm cheating a bit with this one because cas isn't russian but he does speak russian at one point so eh

When Dean asked his boyfriend what his job was, Cas told him, completely deadpan, “I’m a mob boss, Dean.” But no one’s boyfriend is actually a mob boss. Right?

shouldn't have opened the door (rating: teen | warnings: none | complete) again, cheating bc cas isn't russian but this is a very cute series!

Dean opens the door one night to find one of his spookier customers at his door.

omegaverse au:

shipwreck of your heart (rating: explicit | warnings: violence | WIP) ✨ ok this is THEE fic to read and follow imo!! if you're like me and you don't have strong feelings about a/b/o, i would recommend giving this a try! while a/b/o is definitely a theme here, it's not front and centre. dean is the most babygirl to ever babygirl. cas is basically a russian mr darcy. it's amazing.

Dean Winchester is a young Omega working three jobs to support himself and his abusive, alcoholic father. His dream is to help his aunt and uncle send his brilliant little brother to college. One of the few bright spots for him is the job he works at a burger place called Mystery Spot, a restaurant owned by four Russian brothers that Sammy and Dean joke all the time is a front for a mafia. One day, however, when a man comes in and tries to kill Dean’s favorite Krushnic brother right in front of him, the Omega is forced to admit that maybe his running joke with Sammy isn’t too far off the mark. As Dean is thrown into the world of the Krushnic mafia, he finds himself getting closer than ever to Castiel Krushnic himself. The Alpha seems to harbor a strange soft spot for Dean, one that grows more obvious and more confusing by the day. Suddenly, Dean has to wonder why the kindest person in his life is a mafia boss, and why said mafia boss is so dead-set on taking care of him. It’ll take a very stubborn person to convince Dean he deserves that. It’s lucky Castiel Krushnic is a very stubborn man.

better than revenge (rating: explicit | warnings: none | complete) as the author's notes say, this one is a lot lighter than you think it will be! this definitely has a 'modern' omegaverse vibe too which is a lot more enjoyable to read than most other a/b/o fics

Dean Winchester is #blessed. He's got a great family, a million followers on social media, ad endorsements coming out of his extremely fine omega ass, and he's about to graduate with a hard-won Master's Degree in Computer Engineering. Said degree is an escape hatch to the life he craves, away from the scripted roles his well-meaning father keeps trying to corral him into. Dean's a lot of things, but he's not cut out to be a Don—or to fall in love. Castiel Krushnic is a ruthless, hardened alpha underboss for the Russian Mafia and his only soft spot is for his daughter. When she's sent away to the U.S. in hopes of a better life, Castiel follows, reluctantly moving a chunk of the operation with him. His marching orders are clear—first order of business is to send a message to John Winchester, Don of the enemy local syndicate. The easiest way to do that? Use his son. Sounds easy, but Castiel wasn't expecting to fall head-over-heels, or for Dean to want him back. What's an alpha to do when a beautiful omega and an unorthodox mob boss have him questioning everything, abandoning his past and all of its pain for something much better than revenge?

[gallacrafts]

we’re SO excited to announce a ✨ gallacrafts zine project ✨ to celebrate a YEAR of crafting magic!!

details under the cut, including the july 2022 theme reveal...

A GALLACRAFTS ZINE?!

hell yes, you heard that right! we weren’t lying when we said that 2022 was going to be a big year for gallacrafts and first anniversaries are traditionally represented by paper so we thought bet

and, of course, it would be insane not to shout out @odietamo-gallavichzine​ as they’ve paved the way for fandom zines and @mishervellous​ has been so incredibly generous with their time and talents, sharing tips and tricks to make sure this is an enjoyable and smooth process 

THEME REVEAL

it feels fitting that our anniversary theme be mickey’s iconic

you’re under my skin, man. fuck can i do?

because these two really got under all of our skins, didn’t they? 

CREATOR FORM

you know that we’re always excited to see you and your beautiful works! the process is similar to normal gallacrafts, however, we’re also challenging participants to really consider how their submissions can be interactive, whether that means providing a supplies list and step-by-step guide to replicate your craft, or maybe assembly instructions such as @suzy-queued theme 7 gallaball, whatever sparks your creativity! 

submission ideas...

artwork (we need images of our beautiful boys... if you’re interested in providing cover artwork, let us know!)

how to draw ian and mickey

recipes

making gifs 101

postcard someone can tear out and send

step-by-step guide to perler beads, cross stitching, finding a rock that looks like mickey, making a stamp of ian and mickey smooching, etc.

garanimals! 

know that you want to participate? submit a creator form here! ✨

rhys and leah are the only two who will have access to the forms. emails will be sent with creators bcc’d, but please note: if you join the discord, people will be able to see your username. 

TIMELINE

march 15: creator forms are due

april 15th: midway check-in point

may 1st: submissions due

may 1st: order form goes live

may 15th: order form due

june: assembly, printing, etc.

july 1st: mailing begins 

FAQs

how much is this bad boy going to cost? we won’t know for sure until we receive all of the submissions, but we are estimating between 10-15 USD and that would include shipping costs.

how can i order a copy? we will make an order form live on may 1st! much more information will be shared. 

what about folks outside of the US when it comes to ordering? we’re likely going to set-up a wise account, which is like an international venmo/cashapp. if you live outside of the us and you have any recommendations on ways to make it easiest (we’ve heard paypal is a real beach), hit us up! we definitely have all of you sweet babes in mind though

how is this different than the regular monthly gallacrafts? it’s not that much different, it’s true, but it will allow us to engage our sense of touch and that’s super rad. also, it’ll be a super cool memento! 

what if i get inspired after sign-ups are closed? reach out to rhys or leah asafp! we built in secret buffer time so hopefully we could figure something out together that feels good, but if you’re even a little interested in participating, we strongly encourage you to submit a creator form! also, if for whatever reason it’s too late, still share your artwork on july’s posting day! we want to celebrate you!

will the monthly gallacrafts still be taking place? absolutely yes! we are announcing this now to give everyone who would like to participate time to plan and get things together, but rest assured we will still be operating gallacrafts as usual, so if you don’t wish to participate in the zine and would just prefer to be part of the monthly themes, that is perfectly ok!

i’m a world class gif maker and that doesn’t lend itself to print. how could you do this to me? gif makers, we love you and value you as the backbone of fandom, and we still want you to feel loved and welcomed so please please still share your beautiful creations digitally! 

[phoenixyfriend]

Chip Reactivation AU

With help from @atagotiak @thisarenotarealblog and @kestrel-cat

Palpatine leaks info to Dooku about how Anakin used to be a slave, with a general intent of just causing psychological trauma to Skywalker. Dooku passes the job off to Ventress because he's got other things to do, and she takes it Way Too Far.

She hunts down Watto for more information, picks up just the right codes, and mid-battle reactivates Anakin's slave chip.

She taunts him about it. Tells him he has an hour before it goes off. Enjoys the horror as he realizes what she's done, but nobody else has the background info to parse the threat.

"Tick tock, Skywalker."

It's literally the only thing she's here to do, so Anakin is in a position to call off whatever team he has and sprint back to the ship, calling frantically for Kix to get ready to perform a surgery on a time crunch. He can't protect his men if he's dead, after all, and Padme is waiting for him.

Anakin doesn't know where his chip is. There's lots of Dawning Horror among the troopers and Ahsoka. They get the chip out in time, if barely, because the run back ate up over half the time and Kix had maybe twenty minutes to locate and remove the chip.

Various fallout as Anakin has to explain why he had a remote-controlled bomb in him and why he wasn't surprised it was there.

I just think it would be a Fun Way for the situation to come out

Ventress: I have spoken to Watto of Toydaria-

Anakin: WHAT?!?

Ahsoka: Who?

Ventress: And he gave me a very interesting set of codes. You're a bit far out of range, Skywalker, but I got them to work. You have one hour before the trigger hits.

Ahsoka: Master, what the kriff is she talking about?

Ventress: Master is quite the apropos term. Tick-Tock, Skywalker.

Ventress is playing it up but internally she wants to STAB someone, preferably Dooku, because she also used to be a child slave, and this is a very tone-deaf assignment, sir.

Dooku figured that by having Ventress do it, he could kill two birds with one stone. She needs a bit of extra trauma to cling to the dark side! Anger is good for her!

Maybe she tweaked the Codes and stuff to give Anakin more time, and says something cryptic to him about it later.

Ventress: Did you like my gift?

Anakin: If you mean the resurgent trauma, yeah it was great, I loved feeling like a piece of meat again.

[some time later]

Ventress: He took out your chip.

Anakin: Yeah, no thanks to y--

Ventress: Could he do the same to mine?

All jokes aside, Ventress probably doesn't still have the chip in her, maybe never had one in the first place if Rattatak was different enough from Tatooine, but.

Kix: Ok... Miss. We found it and it should be out fairly simply. I understand that you may prefer local anesthesia, but I am compelled by medical professionalism to offer-

Ventress: Oh just get it over with.

Kix: Ma'am I do have a knife.

----

Ventress: Why are you doing this anyway?

Kix: Freedom is the right of all sentient beings.

Ventress: Oh, that's wild coming from you.

Kix: Hey we don't have any... chips... why are you looking at me like that?

Ventress giving him a "oh you sweet summer child" look of pity, just a raised eyebrow of "oh, you actually believe that?"

She's actually very well positioned to have that insider knowledge! It's a great way to slide into a fix-it!

I like the idea of Ventress telling them about the chip, partly as a way to buy favor with them when she defects.

I like the reason she’d defect here is how concerned everyone is for Anakin, y’know? If Obi-Wan is nearby that’d include like, people in a position of power (or maybe even better, another council member being concerned, one that’s not so close) Just like, seeing people being concerned for other people, not for their usefulness y’know?

Like yeah sure they’d try to get the chip out, Anakin is valuable but the way they’d react would go beyond that.

It’d be a hell of a mood whiplash bc in many ways the initial everything about the chip would be extremely validating to her bitterness?

(Callous holier than thou bastards but they don’t even do anything to help one of their own, well if they’re going to leave so nice an opening for me I might as well take it)

And then it's just like, no, Anakin just didn't tell people, figured "it's inactive and that's enough for me" because... IDK he didn't trust anyone to anesthetize him at first and after that it was too late to not be awkward.

Just consider, though, Anakin's thought process as time runs down-- Kix can do it, he can't believe otherwise, he has faith in his men, but- Stay back, Snips! Master, what's going on? Let me help, what can I do? This isn't something you can help with, I need you to stay out of range of the bomb-- BOMB?! No time, where's Kix, we have to move

"I'm not leaving you Skyguy!" "Snips, please, don't come any closer, I can't..."

He's immersed deeply in the Force, listening for the first hint that they've run out of time (because I can't really see them having a perfectly accurate countdown, even if Ventress did give them an accurate timeframe) and preparing to throw everyone around him out of range if he has to (because they won't go willingly if it comes to that...)

It's not even really realistic to worry about the range, necessarily: I was under the impression that it was about a foot of effect, enough to kill if it's in the shoulder or neck or something, but a slow death if it's in the chest, and possible survival if it's in a limb. But that objective knowledge doesn't necessarily help when you're in the thick of things, does it?

[songbookff]

Next of Kin

For @toastweasel. 

There is only one person that Lin can trust: Saikhan.  LoK, season 1, missing scene. 

Or in my Kyalin Spirits Universe, this would be called “Kindred Spirits”. 

The healer left the room and made his way directly down the hall to where he had asked Assistant Chief Saikhan to wait. A petite woman had joined the metal bender, looking extremely anxious. As soon as the healer was within earshot, the woman asked, “Is she ok? How bad is it? Does she still have her bending?”

“This is Chief Beifong’s personal assistant, Tani,” said Saikhan, putting his hand on his shoulder to calm the younger woman down, although he was just as anxious to find out the answers to her questions.

“Assistant Chief,” the healer gave a small incline of his head as a greeting. “I am Healer Yan-Ting. Chief Beifong is resting now and is in stable condition. I was wondering if her family was here so I could update them.”

Tani shook her head. “No family. Just us. How severe were her injuries?”

“I’m afraid for privacy reasons, I must speak to her next of kin. She is still unconscious and cannot verbally provide permission to relay her medical status to anyone else. Even to the police, I’m afraid. Not without a warrant,” answered Healer Yan-Ting diplomatically. Saikhan let out a sigh of frustration but nodded at the healer that he understood.

At least he knew that Lin was going to survive her encounter with Amon’s people. From what Tenzin had told them, Amon had not been present and although they had both been injured, they had not lost their bending. The Avatar’s friends had gotten them out of the Sato compound alive although Lin had fallen unconscious after boarding the ship on the way to the hospital.

Tani was digging in her oversized bag now and produced a large manilla envelop. She rested it on the counter of the nurse’s station and shuffled through several pages to pull out the document she was looking for. Handing it over to the Healer, she said, “Chief Beifong’s next of kin is Assistant Chief Saikhan. Here is the paperwork with her signature. I have everything on file.”

“What?” asked Saikhan, taken aback by the statement.

Not that he had ever given much thought as to who Lin’s next of kin was listed as. Obviously, when she had first been on the force, it had been her mother. When Chief Toph left, he knew that Tenzin had been listed because he had to call him after a car accident once. Lin had been fine, but they had to alert him to drive her home. After their breakup, he had never thought about it.

But him? Why on earth would she list him?

Healer Yan-Ting glanced over the paper Tani had produced, nodded, and then began to address him. “Assistant Chief, if you could come with me, I will be happy to update you.”

As the healer motioned for Saikhan to follow him, Tani moved too, which caused Healer Yan-Ting to hesitate. Saikhan shut that down quickly. “I give permission for Tani to join us.”

This seemed to satisfy him and the three moved into a small office space down the hall. Healer Yan-Ting offered them both a chair, but only Tani accepted. She sat in a straight back wooden chair, clutching the file folder to her chest. Lin had done well finding her. Saikhan had thought she was a little too young with Lin had hired her, but Tani had risen to every occasion and was the most dependable assistant in the office.

“As I said before, Chief Beifong is in stable condition and we have chosen to leave her in the unconscious state so that her body is able to heal itself. She suffered several broken ribs and a fractured radius. Luckily, her metal armor protected her against any lacerations, but she will have severe bruising.”

“If it’s just some broken bones, why keep her unconscious?” asked Tani before Saikhan could even think of a follow up question.

“We have some concerns about a concussion and possible internal bleeding. Honestly, at this point it is just a precaution.”

“And she may try to leave if you wake her up?” Saikhan asked, half jesting. He was just relieved that Lin would recover from her encounter with the Equalists. They had work to do. So many of their metalbending force had been captured.

Healer Yan-Ting did smile at this. “There was a note in her file that she may not be cooperative.”

“Thank you, Healer.”

Six hours later, Saikhan shifted uncomfortably in a stuffed chair. He was half asleep, but it was impossible to find a position to actually get any sleep in. He needed to take Lin’s statement when she woke. And, although he would never admit it out loud, he was worried about her.

“You look like shit.”

The sound of her voice nearly startled him out of his chair. Lin’s eyes were open, but her head still laid back on the pillows. Gathering himself, he replied, “You should look in a mirror.”

She made a little humph noise and closed her eyes for a few moments. Saikhan leaned forward, his hands clasped together. “What happened, Lin?”

“I miscalculated.” The anger and guilt in her voice pierced Saikhan’s heart. There was no way she would be this honest with anyone else. He was seeing the other side of the Chief. “I need you to do something for me.”

Her eyes were open now. Saikhan stared into green. “Whatever you need, Chief.”

“You aren’t going to like it.” Lin slowly sat up, wincing as her body moved. “I’m trusting you and I need you to trust me.”

“Of course.”

“I will be turning in my letter of resignation as soon as you leave this room.” Lin held up her hand to stop him from interrupting. “They will make you Chief. I need you to accept it without question.”

There was something in her gaze, that he knew this wasn’t the Chief of Police was asking of her Assistant. Lin was asking her friend; she was asking her next of kin. There was something that she wasn’t telling him, but she had asked him to trust her. And Saikhan always trusted Lin Beifong above all others.

“If that’s what you want…”

“This next part is important, Saikhan.” Lin leaned towards him and Saikhan left his seat to attend to her bed side. “You must do as they say. You have to play along. They will make you Chief and you have to follow their rules.”

“What are you talking about?” he asked, confused. “Who is they?”

“The Council. Specifically, Tarrlock.”

“What? He’s been calling for your resignation!” exclaimed Saikhan.

Lin’s gaze held steady. “And I’m going to give it to him. Don’t trust them, Saikhan. Just do what they say. There is something bigger at play here and until I figure out what it is, you have to keep the city safe. The only way to do that is to play along. Keep my officers safe; keep yourself safe. Let me do my job.”

His first instinct was to argue. This was an outrageous plan; one he knew would end badly. Or it would all work perfectly. Lin was taking everything that had happened in the arena and to her officers to heart. Saikhan knew she felt like it was all her fault, but that wasn’t fair. No one could have foreseen any of this.

But if anyone could get them out of this mess and save the city, it was Lin Beifong. So he would do as she asked.

“Can I trust you, Saikhan?”

“Until the end, my friend.”

[morewyckedthanyou]

Alrighty then. So... 2, 5, 8, 10, 12, 16, 20, 21, 26, 30 and 39 for Meme for Shippers. A lot of questions I know (but you better answer them! jk). You know I <3 you.

Wow you sure didn't let me get away easy with this, huh? Sorry it took me FOREVER to answer these, but then again, you probably knew it would anyway. 😂

Under a readmore because I don't want to flood anyone's dash, lol.

2. Talk about three of the most important ships throughout your life. Wow, ok, this... is going to be really difficult actually. Because as you well know, I have been into fandoms and shipping for more than half of my life and as such I have SO MANY ships. Oh man...

But... 3 most important ones. Throughout my life. Hmm.

I think since I can interpret this question however I like... I will just go with 3 ships that may not all be very important to me anymore (or I don't really even ship them at all these days), but which have played a very big role to me for different reasons in the past. I also want to say to anyone reading this post that YES, I know the first one of these ships is considered extra problematic but idgaf, I liked what I liked and if you want to cancel me or whatever now, be my guest I guess. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Ok here goes:

1) Snarry (or Snape/Harry) from Harry Potter Yes, really. When I think back, I think this is probably my longest lasting hyperfixation ever, something that I started, at first jokingly, shipping way before the 7th HP book was ever even published, so I must've been like 16 or so. I think the amount of Snarry fanfics that I read was simply crazy. I even wrote some very bad, very questionable Snarry ff myself. I never published any, thank god, lol, because like I said it was bad, but it was the first time I ever finished writing a fanfic of my own (I remember it was very long too... probably at least 30k or whatever) and this was my number one hyperfixation for years and years. I was under a lot of dress during those times and I did have several other fandoms alongside this one, but this was where I always felt most at home and where I "went" most often to escape the real world. This ship and these characters, especially together, just talked to me in such a real way.

2) Holmes/Watson I can't remember how old exactly I was when I read my first Sherlock Holmes stories and started shipping them in earnest. But I can't have been much older than 20, I think. Back then I was also struggling badly with my sexuality and my sexuality felt like one of the biggest defining things about me because I felt like everyone around me were settling down or at least dating non-stop and I had zero interest in any of that and it made me feel bad and like an outsider. Then I discovered asexuality and while i I didn't know if I was really ace myself, along those times I also started reading more Holmes/Watson fics and then BBC Sherlock happened and suddenly there was a lot more ff where people were writing about ace!Sherlock and I don't know... I felt comforted? Once again, fanfiction helped me cope with difficult times in my life.

3) Reddie from IT (miniseries) Honestly, THE ship for me because in a fucked up way I can relate to both Richie and Eddie a lot (although let's face it I think I'm way more like Richie - masking insecurities with humour is like, my brand, and all that) and idk, even just thinking about these two disaster men makes me feel better. It's really a comfort ship for me, and a very wholesome ship as well. I don't very often go for the friends to lovers trope at all, I just feel like enemies to lovers is a lot more fun but in their case I just... don't need that aspect at all, for some reason? They are similar but so different, they compliment each other perfectly, they are fucked up and in need of therapy. I want to put them in situations and see them mutually pine for each other like the big idiots that they are and then kiss and make it all better.

Also, I've published 8 fics in total of these two and I plan on publishing at least one more (once I finish that goddamn WIP almost one year in the making) and I have ideas for at least one more fic that's gonna be multichaptered and told from the POV of both of them. These fictional guys made me create and participate in a fandom in a way I never have before.

5. Do you have any poly ships? I do actually! :D I don't have that many, and the ones I have also always include a pair of people that I also ship just the two of them together as well, and which is usually my "main ship", but yeah, there are some.

There's the Triumvirate from Star Trek aka Kirk/Spock/McCoy (or McSpirk). Obviously my OTP in Star Trek fandom is Spirk... but I also ship just Kirk and McCoy together, as well as just Spock and McCoy. And then all three of them together, lol.

Talking about another big scifi franchise, Star Wars... I don't ship Luke and Leia together, but I do think they can both definitely date Han at the same time. 😏 But again, I also ship Han with both Leia and Luke separately as well.

I know I haven't really talked about Dragon Age here in a long while, but from Dragon Age 2 I have OT3 which is Hawke/Anders/Fenris. But once again I also ship all three of these characters separately with each other as well because that's how I roll. (I also have another poly!ship from the Inquisition but that actually includes my OC Inquisitor as one of the characters I ship so I won't be going into that)

When I was really into Queen a couple years back I had my certain favourite ships obviously... but I also read many amazing OT4 fics of the whole gang together. 😂

And now that I've really been into Cobra Kai and Lawrusso lately... Well, I also lowkey ship Daniel/Johnny/Amanda. I really enjoy this headcanon of Johnny ending up in bed with the LaRussos one time and then one time becomes two becomes three and he's just torn because he actually has feelings for them but also surely this wealthy, happily married couple is just enjoying having him as their boytoy and nothing else? and then he gets proved wrong I've read some good fics about these three with variations of this headcanon, but I would read a lot more - if there were any! 👀

8. Have you ever shipped yourself with a character? Honestly? No. I guess it's the aro in me, because even when I really like a character and find them cute or hot or whatever, I still never have any desire to get myself involved in any way, not really. I want to appreciate from afar, not get myself involved in this mess. 😂

10. Do you ship any characters that have never met? Way back in time when there was only one season of BBC Sherlock (I think?) I used to ship Lestrade with Mycroft even though they never were seen interacting with each other, lol.

And in Dragon Age I have this very niche ship that is Dorian/Fenris. Potentially they could've met. But in the canon they have not. (I am only familiar with the actual games and have not read any of the comics/visual novels so if they have met there, then I have no knowledge of that whatsoever.)

There are probably some other ships too but these are the only ones that immediately came to mind.

12. Have you ever been disappointed when your ship finally got together? I don't think so? I usually never ship anything that ends up becoming canon anyway, so it's not like I have much experience of that even happening.

But I can tell you that very often if I have shipped something really hard for a really long time, I have already built this whole elaborate story in my head about how it all should go IF they ever were to get together and as such I actually don't even want the ship to become real canon. Because obviously the showmakers would just do it wrong anyway, I don't trust their visions. Does this kind of answer the question? 😂

16. Talk about a ship you initially disliked. Hmm, I can't think of any such ship right now, although I am sure there must have been at least a ship or two that I disliked first and then later on learned not to... 🤔

But I will go with a ship that I was at first very indifferent towards and which later grew on me anyway and now I actually do ship it (though it's still not my OTP in the fandom because of course I had to go for a more rare ship with almost no content, lol).

I'm gonna go with Mash and Trapper/Hawkeye. At first I had no feelings about this ship. Then I kinda went "yeah they fuck sometimes but that's it". Then I started shipping them in a joking way and by now I actually ship them for real. Idk what changed but I'm not even mad, lol.

20. Talk about a ship you feel alone in shipping. I know I am not actually alone, but there are only a handful of people who do ship Hawkeye/Mulcahy and the even smaller handful of fics there are of them I have already read several times. 😅

I also know I am not alone in shipping Richie and Eddie, there's a big fandom and all that. But as someone who prefers the miniseries over the new IT films any day, I do feel quite alone in that sense. I could talk about miniseries!Reddie for hours with someone, but Reddie from the new films... not really. Completely different energies.

Also lol, there are those few ships where you and I are almost the only shippers. I'm talking about lovely stuff like Renegades and Hank/Buster, or The Young Guns films and Chavez/Doc, and of course the classic Morgan/Erkki from Den som frykter ulven. 😂😂😂

Oh! And this only came to my mind because literally a few days ago when I was reading Lawrusso fics, I accidentally stumbled upon an author who had also written a fic about these two guys whose names I don't even remember lol from the film Killer Klowns from Outer Space and I was like !!!!!! because I have shipped that for years and there has literally been not a single fanfic - before that one. That is the only one. I haven't read it yet, and in fact I should rewatch the movie before even attempting to, but... oh god. I was literally so alone but at least now I know there is one (1!) other person who ships it too. 😂

21. Is there a ship you just don’t get, but have nothing against? Probably most of the more popular ships in those fandoms where I belong to but I don't actually ship the popular thing myself... But I'm trying to come up with some proper examples.

From Mash I can think of BJ/Hawkeye. I really have nothing against people shipping it but I also have zero interest in the ship myself, nor can I really see it myself.

This next one is not a popular ship I don't think, but from IT (the new films specifically) I remember being really surprised to find out some people actually ship Bill and Stan because as far as I remember those two don't really even have many scenes together or interact at all? Although let's be real I've only watched the first film of the two and only 2 or 3 times I think so maybe I've missed something. Anyways, again I have nothing against this ship, I just have zero interest in it and can't personally see it.

Again, there are probably other ships that I'm very indifferent about but those two came to mind first.

26. Have you noticed a pattern in your shipping? Is there a romantic dynamic you’re more drawn to? Well, there is definitely the enemies to lovers dynamic that I have always been very much into. And if not enemies to lovers, then I at least tend to prefer ships where opposites attract, I guess? Not in a way that the people have nothing in common, there is always something in common, whether it is shared/similar kinds of trauma or whatever. But yeah, I guess that's it.

30. Name a couple of fandoms in which you have no ships. Fuck! You know what, I am shipper trash and if I like something enough to consider myself as part of the fandom, it is a very safe bet that I also have a ship in it. As such, I can't think of a single fandom that I've actively been interested in where I didn't ship something at least in a kind of a joking way. 😅

39. Is there a fictional relationship you’d really want for yourself? Tbh, not really... I don't really feel comfortable in relationships and the moment anything starts getting too serious I immediately start freaking out because I am a weirdo with trust and commitment issues so... No matter how much I like something in fiction, no matter how cute and healthy and wholesome it might be, I can't even begin to imagine that for myself. Like, sure, unconditional love and great (preferably gay) sex would be nice to have I guess, but also that's too much responsibility for me so... yeah. None for me thanks!

40 Questions - Meme for Shippers

[firelxdykatara]

kitty i can't wait for your thoughts of Shadow and Bone asdfasfaw

Ok well I just finished and I have so many fucking thoughts. Most good! Some, less so. Part of it may just be my bias because I’ve only read the Six of Crows duology and have little interest in actually reading the original trilogy, because I know how it ends and Leigh clearly hates me personally and doesn’t want me to be happy (/j), so I was already predisposed to be far more invested in the Crows and Darkling/Darklina segments (genuinely, the Mal/Malina scenes/storyline bored me to tears, and while I appreciate that the show went out of its way to change Mal’s character to make him much less of a toxic douchebag [I’ve read enough excerpts and explanations of his actions in the books to really loathe book!Malina], it isn’t enough to make me ship them when Darklina is right there), but I also don’t think it’s a stretch to say that the Crows absolutely stole the show.

It’s actually kind of funny, because I’d assumed they were only being so heavily marketed to hype the show up even more, since while there’s a lot of TGT/SoC fandom overlap they are also two fundamentally different genres and I’d wager there are a lot of people who are massive fans of one but not so enthused with the other, while remaining fairly insignificant to the overall plot. Turns out, they make up fully half of the show’s runtime (much to my delight). Which is part of what I think will help this series stand on its own, both as a book adaptation and simply as a fantasy TV series.

I’ll put more of my story-specific thoughts under a cut, so there’s lots of show spoilers to follow!

I know that a lot of early reviewers were saying that Alina’s motivations and storyline revolved too much around Mal, and that really held true for me. It made sense in the beginning--he was the only constant in her life, she was thrust into something new, terrifying, and completely unfamiliar, and they’d developed an unhealthy codependence as a coping mechanism for their childhoods and the traumas they faced, the lives they lead growing up in a war-torn country. But she started coming into her power, falling for the General--not just his power and charisma, but what she felt when she was with him. The way he helped her summon the sun, the way she felt free in a way she never had before.

Until it all went to shit--but the Darklina make-out scene in episode 5? Fucking iconic. Poetic fucking cinema. The way they were quite literally about to have sex on that wartable (and someone better write fic of that moment, what if they hadn’t gotten interrupted), and the General left, but then he ran back just to kiss her one more time... this is what OTPs are made of ok.

I think what really bothers me overall is that Alina ultimately lacked agency in her one storyline, pretty much the entire way through. She did make a few choices, but they were mostly incidental, and a lot of it was Alina desperately trying to get back to Mal rather than seizing her own power and destiny and running with it. The most prominent example is the end of episode 5--Alina is having happy make-outs and almost bones the General in his own war room, and then he leaves, and Baghra comes in and infodumps to her about how evil he is and how he’s only using her and she needs to escape.

I recognize that a lot of this is probably because that’s essentially what happened in the book and Leigh is an executive producer for the show so she has a lot of shot-calling power. However, I really think that even in the book this plotline would’ve been better-served by having Alina make these discoveries on her own.

For example, imagine that the letters which were used as framing devices for episodes 2 and 3 were vitally important to the plot, rather than being one-offs that are mentioned a few times but not really affecting much of anything. Alina begins to get suspicious when she doesn’t receive word from Mal, and she starts wondering if her letters are even reaching him--so she starts snooping. She finds ashes in the war room hearth, late at night,, and recognizes a fragment of Mal’s signature and larger piece of her own. She now knows that someone--possibly the General, but maybe that creepy priest guy, or someone else in the palace--is keeping her and Mal from contacting one another. So she starts snooping around even more. She asks the General leading questions, trying to figure out what the truth is of his intentions. She still feels this pull--this connection to him, and she hopes she’s wrong, but she’s not willing to just sit around and wait for the other shoe to drop.

The Winter Fete still happens, she still gets the hot make-out session with the General, and then when he’s called away, she snoops through his papers, looking for anything that can tell her the truth. She finds a hidden compartment filled with journals.

She reads about Aleksander’s past (and, incidentally, wasn’t that supposed to be a huge moment in the books, him revealing his true name to her in private? kinda wish it had been kept that way in the show but who knows where they’ll go with it in the future)--that leads to the flashbacks in episode 6. She feels for him, but she also reads further--she gets a firsthand look at his desire for power, something that began as a noble desire to save his people, but was twisted by a lust for vengeance (for his lost love and all the Grisha who were killed) and shot through with greed, the realization that if he found the Sun Summoner he could control the Fold, rather than just destroy it. He could create a new world where Grisha could live without fear--where Grisha could rule.

Alina is terrified. Whoever the General used to be--whatever humanity she saw flickering in his eyes, the way his heart fluttered when they kissed--she can’t trust that it’ll be enough to save her from plans centuries in the making. So she goes to Baghra, the woman who helped her discover her power, learn to channel it--the woman who always seemed to know much more than she ever let on. Baghra gives her side of the story--Alina got it from the General’s perspective first, now Baghra is telling her something framed much differently. She isn’t sure what or who to trust, but she knows that Baghra seems willing to help her escape--but rather than trusting her ‘loyal Grisha’, she makes the choice she made in the show, to choose the other path, and winds up with the Crows.

Idk how Mal and the Stag thing would fit into this (if it isn’t obvious by now, Mal just... doesn’t interest me), but Alina’s story and her character arc would be so much stronger for it. And she’s supposed to be the central character, so her story being weak and her agency so frequently being compromised ultimately hurts the show as a whole.

I know I’ve gone on and on about Alina and the Darkling (look, I’m a slut for enemies-to-lovers, and also lovers-to-enemies-and-back, so Darklina and Helnik are where so much of my investment is rooted--plus Kanej, but that almost goes without saying), but the true standouts of the series were the Crows. Inej, Kaz, and Jesper, and Nina and Matthias in their episodes, stole the show (along with the Darkling, Ben is far and away the best actor in the cast and I love that for him, but Freddy, Amita, and Kit are also amazing, and Danielle&Calahan were fucking phenomenal as Nina and Matthias--I do have to say, though, that the whole cast is really solid and has amazing chemistry).

They worked together so perfectly--Freddy and Amita communicated so much with their eyes alone, especially together, and a whole lot of their relationship dynamic is rooted in how they exist together, which really came through. The show altered the Crows timeline considerably (I’m pretty sure Kaz would’ve been 14 during the original trilogy lol), so Inej is still at the Menagerie, but things like Kaz putting up the Crow Club for Inej’s freedom, the way Kaz needed her but could never bring himself to say it (until the end of the season dklhfgdkjfgh i SCREAMED)--the way Jesper played off the both of them, and it’s so obvious they all love each other even though they’re criminals and thieves and murderers, and Kaz would never admit it (out loud--which actually feeds into my theory that his love language is acts of service; Kaz does things for the people he cares about, he never announces it and he will almost always try to downplay it, but the way you know he cares is if, for example, he puts his entire life, everything he built, up as collateral for your freedom), but they’re a family.

One thing that I was kind of iffy about was Inej’s refusal to kill--but I thought it might be something they were planning to work into her overall character arc, and they did. It was the one line she hadn’t crossed--in the books, I’d imagine that it took a while for Inej to wind up at that point, being willing to kill on top of everything else. So I actually like that they worked that into the Crows plotline, and Inej killing for the first time was to save Kaz’s life.

Just like Kaz’s first selfless act was to save her.

(He’d deny it, of course. He protects his investments. He needed her for the job. But the truth is, he did it for her. And he’d do it again. Even if he’d never admit it.)

Meanwhile, Nina and Matthias’ storyline was pretty much note-for-note according to their backstory as it was revealed in Six of Crows, and I loved every second of it. Their chemistry was perfect, their journey from enemies to begrudging allies to friends to maybe something more (Matthias’ stomach cockblocking them when they were about to kiss had me fucking SCREAMING AT THE TV, and then of course the whole ‘betraying him to save him’ thing happened and I sobbed), and then suddenly right back to enemies.

Because from Matthias’ perspective, he trusted a witch--believed in her, liked her, wanted her--and she turned on him. He has no idea that she wasn’t the one who knocked him out in the first place, and no reason to believe her, because as far as he knows, she just confirmed everything he’d ever been told about Grisha. That they are deceitful and treacherous, would turn on you as soon as look at you, that they are dangerous and not to be trusted. It wasn’t revealed in-show but I imagine Matthias’ backstory is largely the same, which means that his entire family was slaughtered by Grisha when he was a young boy, and then he was turned into a brainwashed child soldier by the witch hunters and never knew anything else.

They are perfectly primed for their SoC arc next season and I, for one, am so stoked to see the rest of their journey. And if I slip Netflix a couple twenties, maybe they’ll let Helnik have a happy ending please please please.

Anyway, yeah! I have a lot of thoughts but things are still percolating in my head so I’ll probably float around the tags for a bit and let things settle. This is just a preliminary overview of my thoughts in the immediate aftermath of bingeing the entire show in one night kldfjghdkjfhgkjgf

EDIT TO ADD: I CAN’T BELIEVE I FORGOT ABOUT THE TRUE STAR OF THE SHOW, M I L O

MILO BEST BOY. MILO THE MVP. MILO DESERVES ALL THAT IS GOOD IN THE WORLD AND I HOPE HE LIVES A HAPPY AND HEALTHY AND FULL LITTLE GOAT LIFE.

[svgarpills]

For the drabbles, would you do an ishimondo one where mondo has a high fever and taka has to take care of him while he sweats it out? Mondo may even talk in his sleep while he hallucinates stuff idk fever dreams can be weird but knowing mondo and his past he’d probs say some weird stuff and taka would just be there the whole time trying to get his temp down

Ooh ok lets give this a shot

--

Ship: Ishimondo

Characters: Kiyotaka Ishimaru, Mondo Owada, Makoto Naegi (briefly)

Warnings: n/a

*I wanted to somehow add Chihiro into this, like make it after their death but idk i couldn't make it work with the context of chapter. 2 and its timeframe

--

Kiyotaka was in a living hell.

Forced to watch his classmates kill each other and then be sent to a trial where he had to watch another classmate die in front of him. Monokuma's shrill laugh still echoed in his ears when he sat in his dorm each night, head buried in his hands. The only reason he was still going was because of the unlikely friendship he managed to form with Mondo.

Speaking of the biker, he...wasn't in the dining hall. Kiyotaka had a system in place, and ignoring the sickening feeling he got when he saw the empty seats of Leon and Sayaka, he noticed one more that should be filled. That was...odd. Mondo might've been foul-mouthed and quick tempered most of the time, even as Taka's friend, but he always showed up to Kiyotaka's meetings.

"Has anyone seen Mondo?" He asked. The students all looked at each other before shrugging or shaking their heads. Fighting the looming sense of dread building in his stomach he cleared his throat. "I'll go get him, then! There's no excuse to be late!" Determinedly, he stood and exited the dining hall, where he allowed himself to take a shaky breath and rush down the hall.

Mondo couldn't be dead, could he? Surely there was no reason someone would risk becoming a blackened so soon after the first trial. Mondo could defend himself, but he couldn't stop himself from worrying as he swallowed thickly. He reached Mondo's door quicker than he thought possible and raised his hand to knock. He didn't mean to be loud, but his shaking arms didn't allow him much control over the gesture.

The rooms were soundproofed, so he couldn't determine if Mondo had heard him or not. The lock turned and opened slightly, violet eyes meeting vibrant red. "Ah, you're awake!" Mondo stared at him and Kiyotaka noticed the beads of sweat formed on his skin. "Are you feeling alright? You look..." he trailed off, not sure if it would be rude to point it out.

"'M fine," Mondo muttered, voice rough and a bit scratchier than usual. "Had a 'lil fever for the past day or two, 's nothin' serious." Kiyotaka reached out hesitantly to place his palm on Mondo's forehead and recoiled at the heat. "I'm fine, bro. Now c'mon, that dumb bear might do somethin' any second now."

"It is something serious! You need to be resting, Mondo, not investigating." He crossed his arms over his chest. "Go lie down, i'll ask Naegi to grab a water bottle or something." He knew a bit about fevers- not much, but whenever he was too sick to overwork himself he tended to just lie in bed and drink water. So that would...probably work. Why was nobody here an Ultimate doctor?

"Fine. You're not gonna stop talkin' about it so I might as well." Kiyotaka couldn't sense any real hostility in Mondo's voice, so he nodded in agreement. "...What're ya standing there for? Go tell Makoto and then come back, if you're gonna be so worried y' might as well stick around." He blinked before clearing his throat and muttering an agreement. Thankfully he knew where Makoto most likely was, probably waiting for him.

Once he had explained the situation and gotten a couple bottles of water, he returned to Mondo's room. He hesitantly turned the doorknob and found it unlocked. He'd have to tell the biker how dangerous that was later, when he was actually able to comprehend the lecture. It'd be annoying to have to repeat everything when he wasn't feverish.

"Bro?" The room was a bit dim, but still bright enough for him to see. Nothing answered him, so he stepped further into the room. He set the water bottles down on a table and wiped the condensation off on his sleeves. It was just a bit of water, it'd be fine. "Mondo?" He noticed the bed, or more specifically the teen passed out on top of the blankets in a postion that seemed more uncomfortable than anything.

Ah, that's good. He needs the rest. Taka pulled one of the spare chairs to the bedside and sat, resting his hands in his lap. This was just to make sure Mondo didn't get any worse, he told himself. It was perfectly reasonable logic, there was no way to send him to a real doctor, so Kiyotaka would just have to monitor him until the fever left.

Mondo shifted slightly in his sleep, brow furrowed slightly as his face turned from peaceful to more troubled, lips pulled down into a barely visible frown. Maybe he was having one of those dreams Kiyotaka had heard about, the ones that made no sense and often accompanied a fever like this. He didn't want to wake the biker up unless it seemed truely necessary, so he just watched as he shifted again.

"Daiya..." That caught Taka's attention. That name was unfamiliar, he didn't know anyone named Daiya. "...'m sorry, wasn't...wasn't strong 'nough." That just added to his confusion. Mondo was plenty strong, so what could've caused him to say something like that. The biker muttered something else, but it was soft and incomprehensible, delusioned mutters and slurred words as the fever slowly worked its way out of his system.

Taka was still sitting in the chair when Mondo's eyes opened again, bleary and slightly confused. "Oh, you're awake!" Mondo groaned and sat up, nodding slowly. He still seemed a bit out of it, either from the dream or the fever, but he didn't look as bad as before. Taka took that as a success.

"...Taka, bro, did'ya sit there the whole time?" He raised an eyebrow, slight amusement on his features as Taka blushed and stumbled out an explanation about watching over him while he was sick. The moral compass passed him one of the water bottles, cap slightly askew, and told him to drink.

"You need to keep hydrated to fully recover! I expect to see you at the next meeting if you feel better tomorrow, bro!" Mondo rolled his eyes fondly and took a sip from the bottle as Taka pressed a hand to his forehead. "You don't feel as warm, which is good. Keep resting the rest of the day and you'll probably be fine tomorrow."

"Whatever you say, bro." Kiyotaka nodded and left the room. Mondo would be okay, he was sure of it. The fever was going down and he seemed lucid enough to take care of himself and follow Kiyotaka's instructions. As he walked down the hall, he couldn't help but spare one more glance at Mondo's door before reassuring himself everything would be fine.

-

Kiyotaka couldn't help but feel nervous as he waited in the dining hall, trying to resist the urge to pace back and forth on the smooth floor, but when Mondo entered and called him 'bro' just as confidently as always, he felt some of that anxiety slowly melt away as he replied with just as much energy.

Maybe not everything in this killing game had to be awful.

[ordinaryschmuck]

What I Thought About "Eda's Requiem" from The Owl House

Salutations, random people on the internet who certainly won’t read this! I am an Ordinary Schmuck. I write stories and reviews and draw comics and cartoons.

...

...

...HOW IS SEASON TWO SO GOOD?! WE'VE HAD SEVEN EPISODES SO FAR, AND EACH ONE OF THEM WAS A HIT!

Take "Eda's Requiem," for example. It's yet another episode where I have NOTHING bad to say about it! That's two weeks in a row where that happened! HOW DOES THIS HAPPEN?!

HOW!

HOW!

...But anyways, "Eda's Requiem." It's another fantastic episode, and I'm about to dive into explaining how and why. Just keep in mind, it's gonna require spoilers to do so, so be wary of that as you keep reading.

Now, let's review, shall we?

WHAT I LIKED

Eda’s Checklist and Grom Photo: Within the first second, "Eda's Requiem" perfectly sets up Eda's central conflict in the episode. Despite spending years being on her own and looking after herself, she now has two kids that she's constantly caring over. Eda can try all she wants to say that she doesn't care, and I bet she has in the past. But given the hard work she's putting into getting King and Luz what they need and having a grom photo of the three of them together pinned in her mirror, it's pretty clear that those two knuckleheads wormed their way into her heart and are never getting out.

Eda’s Worried About King and Luz Leaving: And thus, that's precisely why something like this bothers her so much. Eda inadvertently adopted two rambunctious rapscallions (Yeah, I know. I'll get to it), so the idea of them not being around her anymore is going to be terrifying. That is a situation most parents, especially mothers, can identify with. It’s called empty nest syndrome and it proves just how much Eda loves Luz and King that she can't stand the thought of her babies leaving the nest. It's yet another well-made, wholesome, found-family moment that this series continues to excel at each week, making me extra excited for more like it to come...while also readying myself for heartbreak when one of them eventually does leave Eda.

Eda and Raine’s Music: Ok, I don't know the exact instruments that were played during this episode, but I also don't care because it was all (for lack of a better term) music to my ears. Every time Eda and Raine played resulted in melodies that are so beautiful and filled with so much emotion and feeling that I'm honestly tempted to listen to them again, multiple times, on repeat. Shows rarely do that for me, as background music doesn't always draw me in as much as lyrical songs do. Usually, it takes something so extraordinarily composed to give me the desire to listen again, and that's the case here. So huge congrats to Brad Breek for doing so. Seriously, the man's been killing it this season.

Eda’s Bard Magic Causing Things to Turn to Ash: This was assuredly a surprise side-effect of the curse. The fact that Eda can sort of do magic at all was its own shock. To then reveal that a specific type can do dangerous things to people and environments is...Well, it definitely brings up its own fair share of questions. Like, how can she do this? Will she do it again, one day? And are there other types of spells that can be negatively affected by Eda's curse? We don't get answers for any of these questions, and odds are, we never will. But that's alright with me. Because if a show makes me consider these many possibilities after a brief amount of time, it is a show that has to be doing something right. Even if I don't get the answers I want, the fact that it caused such a reaction makes me less willing to care.

Raine Whispers: Hey, would you look at that. Another fun, interesting, and compelling character added to the list of this shows' other fun, interesting, and compelling characters...how is this series so good at this!?

Joking aside, Raine's pretty good. I like Raine. They could have been this super serious leader who lost all their fun after years apart from Eda, but I'm glad that they're not. There are moments when Raine takes their job as leader of the BATs seriously, as one would, but I still prefer the fact that they kept a jovial nature despite how grim their situation is. It's an admirable trait to have, and it avoids the trope of making leader characters boring just because they're the ones who have to take things seriously.

Oh, and also, Raine's Disney's first non-binary character who has a stake in the plot. This is a tremendous deal, as you don't usually see that many non-binary characters in children's animation, let alone ones that hold importance to the story. So it's pretty cool for the writers to feature Raine, as it helps several kids feel as though they're finally seen and respected. And the fact that Disney of all companies gave the thumbs up is even more impressive. I hear people say that Dana Terrace should have pitched The Owl House to more progressive networks to avoid pushback, and while I absolutely see your point, I'll have to respectfully disagree. Disney is the largest entertainment industry of all time, so if you want to make LGBTQA+ representation normalized, you gotta stop making splashes and start making waves. Because if the same company that made three racist cats in the span of a few years manages to say that being gay is a-ok, then you know there's something wrong with you. Yes, Disney ended up screwing over the show anyway. But for that one moment, when kids felt pride after seeing a character like Raine, then, in the end, it's kind of worth it.

Also, if you're still having issues with more representation like this popping up in kids' shows, then allow me to redirect you to the complaint department.

...I made that post earlier today for this bit. YOU HAVE BETTER APPRECIATED IT!

Day of Unity is meant to be a Secret: At least, that's what I got when Raine stumbled over their own words. So if it's true, then I wonder why? Why does Belos want to keep the most critical change in the Boiling Isles a secret? Does he want to make it a surprise for his grateful subjects, or does he not want to spread worry and fear amongst the wild witches? It has to be something big if he doesn't want his followers to even say the words "Day of Unity." Whatever reason he has, we most likely won't know until the future. A future that I grow more and more afraid of each week.

Hooty Eating Echo Mouse: My heart sank in that brief moment when I thought that Hooty intensely screwed Luz over in getting back home. But looking back...it is pretty funny.

Just the suddenness of Hooty eating the poor creature that Luz desperately tried to earn its trust is priceless in how shocking it was. And also, Luz's expression.

That was the look of a young girl who immediately shoved her hand down an owl demon's throat the second the scene cut away. The Owl House may not always be a hit in the comedy department, but scenes like this prove that when it's funny, it is hilarious.

Luz and King Entering the Grand Prix: Not much to discuss here. It's just a cute subplot that adds frivolity to the intensity of what's going on through Eda and Raine's story. But I will say that I love how both stories occasionally interconnect with each other through the many moments of Eda being worried about King wanting to leave to find his father and avoiding any conversation about it. It helps both plotlines feel like they belong together, without being something like "Through the Looking Glass Ruins," whereas both stories could have been in their own episode. Which is neat.

How Bard Magic Works: I really love how this season is diving into how the other magic types work. More specifically, the ones that seem a little vague. I mean, stuff like healing, potions, and plants are easy to figure out, but what does it mean when a witch's talents are construction, beast keeping, and bard magic? We've been getting a lot of clearing up lately, with bard magic looking like a witch can control their environments and enemies through the power of music. Which is fair. Music is pretty powerful in the metaphorical sense, and I actually love that it's powerful in the literal sense when in the Boiling Isles.

The BATs: Not much to comment on these three either. The BATs have the potential to have an entertaining dynamic, but they do very little in this episode that I can't say much other than I hope they make a return in the future. But I will make this claim: Amber is my favorite. I'm sorry, but her screaming "You're not our mom!" to then go, "Bye, mommy Eda" is just too precious for me not to love.

I'm a simple man who falls for cute s**t. Leave me alone.

Raeda (RainexEda): Well, EdaxCamila, you were a fun crack ship while it lasted, but I'm afraid that this is now goodbye. The current canon has provided an incredibly adorable and believable relationship that I would be a monster not to support with my whole bi-heart. It's been real.

Ok, back in serious mode: I love these two together. Eda and Raine are grown-ups, and they still act all flustered near each other as if they were still Luz and Amity's age. It's definitive proof that you're never too old to get flustered near a crush, and seeing them interact adds a sense of wholesomeness when seeing them together as well as heartbreak when they're forced apart. Plus, we get confirmation that Eda's LGBTQA+! Whether she's bi, pan, or whatever, now that we know Eda can catch feelings for someone like Raine, it's yet another case that The Owl House is the most important series to the community. Because having the main character be queer is fantastic in its own right. But having the same apply to the motherly mentor figure? That's is an extra bit of normalization that anybody would be willing to appreciate.

Unique Guard Designs: Not many fans are going to appreciate this, primarily compared to everything else this episode does perfectly. For me, I actually like that you see a few Coven Guards looking differently from the others, as it helps make them less like clones and makes it seem like anybody of any body type could be a part of the coven.

Gus Looking Uninterested when Presenting Grand Prix with his Dad: I am positive that you didn't notice this (I didn't even notice it until someone else pointed it out), but there's something to dissect here. It hints that perhaps Gus isn't as interested in his father's field of work as one might think. If he did, he would look a lot less bored and much more excited to be helping Perry Porter present the race. It could just be the race itself, but judging from Gus' expression, it really seems like the kid would prefer to be anywhere but there. And why would he have that reaction to a race that his best friend is competing in? To me, this seems like an inkling of what Gus' relationship with Perry could be, which may not actually get time to shine, what with how little wiggle room the series has now (Thanks Disney). Regardless, it is interesting to notice, and it will certainly have fans thinking for a while.

Bump Being Smug of Luz Being in the Lead: That's it. Principal Bump looking smug as his human student is beating the students of his rivals is yet another moment that proves why Bump is easily the best cartoon principal.

Darius: First of all, this guy is f**king fabulous, and I love him. *Snaps*

Second, he is definitive proof that you do NOT want to f**k around with Coven Leaders. Lilith may have had her intimidating moments, but none of them compare to the guy who can turn himself into an abomination monster where only magic that hasn't existed before can take him down. It's genuinely scary to see Darius lose control, and I fear for the day when Luz inevitably ends up in his crosshairs.

With that said, Darius' still a ton of fun! He may be threatening, but he's just a flamboyant guy that hates the idea of getting his outfit the tiniest bit dirty. And I love that. I love that these Coven Heads have actual personalities instead of being generically evil. I consider it preferable to make villains entertaining rather than blatantly scary as I'll remember the personalities first and the villainous acts last.

Eberwolf: But this one's my favorite. I told you: I'm a simple man who gets easily swayed by cute s**t. And Eber? I mean, just look at her:

She's just a cute widdle rascal! I just want to pinch her cheeks, give her a belly rub, and--

...Eberwolf is not a cute widdle rascal. She is a strong, independent woman, and I will respect her as such from this moment forward...lest I feel her wrath.

That is all. Let's move on.

Eda and Raine Attempting a Final Performance: This was the best scene of the episode. It looked gorgeous, it shows the dedication Eda and Raine have for stopping Belos, and it says so much through so little. Go back and look at how Eda and Raine regard one another when performing Eda's requiem. Through their expressions and a few short words, you know they understand that if they complete the song/spell, they probably won't make it in the end. And yet, they don't care. They both know bad stuff will happen if Belos wins, so Eda and Raine put everything to the side, both their feelings for one another and the people they leave behind if it means putting an end to a tyrant. That level of dedication...Words can't fully describe how powerful that is.

Raine Sacrificing Themselves Instead: But in the end, Raine can't do it. Not when they know the life that Eda has and the people she'll be leaving behind. It's an extra bit of nobleness to the character seeing that Raine refuses to take away a woman from two kids who need her the most. A tad bit selfish, sure, knowing what Belos has planned. But when it comes to love, the romantic, familial, or platonic, the best decisions aren't always the logical ones.

Eda Crying: Luz crying tears me up, but seeing Eda cry is a whole different level of heartbreak. Like Lilith, Eda has her emotions locked up tight, with the closest she came to weeping were those two tears in "Young Blood, Old Souls." In "Eda's Requiem," she cries but almost quickly stops herself. As if she knows that doing so isn't going to save Raine. That is...even worse than seeing Luz break down after losing Eda. The fact that Eda refuses to give herself time to mourn losing someone she loved is tragic because crying is the most natural way of showing grief. Turning that off isn't healthy, and seeing her do it with little resistance is sad to me. It's sad to see a character I love can easily shut off all emotions despite how badly she may want to embrace them. It's one of those moments that, again, by doing so little, it shows so much.

“No one watches Crystal Balls anymore. It’s all about streaming.”: Oof. Even I felt that burn towards cable.

King’s Message: King's message was the pick-me-up I needed after the heart-wrenching sadness this episode put me through a few minutes ago. Seeing King say who he is and listing all the things he loves is nothing short of adorable. On top of that, I adore that Eda willingly recorded the whole thing. She may not want King to leave, but that doesn't mean she'll sabotage the one thing he wants. Especially not after Raine gave up everything so Eda could be with her kids. The opening scene may prove how much Eda cares about a rascal like King, but this heartwarmingly sweet moment reveals just how far she'll go to make him happy.

King’s Dad Reveal: ...ok, I'll be honest, I did not think we'd get that reveal this soon. Dumb of me to say, considering the number of times I've said that these writers don't waste time getting to the s**t, I know. But still, it's pretty cool knowing that King's dad is alive and well, added with the fact that we've got a fair idea of what he looks like. At this point, it's only a matter of time before we see him figure out where the Clawthorne residence is and witness the tear-jerking moments that will follow.

King Changing his Name to King Clawthorne: Not the official adoption I was expecting Eda to make...but DANG IT, is it still diabetes-inducing levels of sweetness!

Personally, I feel like the main reason why Eda breaks down this time is not only because she shouldn't be worried about King leaving her life, but also because Raine's sacrifice wasn't in vain. Her kids really do need Eda because no matter how far apart they'll be, she will always be a part of their life...dang it, I'm going to cry too!

What those Coven patches really do: Well...that was horrifying to see.

...Writers, if you kill off the best non-binary character in animation (it's a short list, I know), we are going to have PROBLEMS!

IN CONCLUSION

"Eda's Requiem" is--surprise surprise--another A+. The emotions hit hard, the representation hits harder, Raine is a fantastic addition to the cast, and it was all surprisingly cute at times. Season Two is currently on a hot streak, constantly winning with every episode that's come out so far. When a bad episode does eventually show up (IT'S GONNA HAPPEN!), I'll be sure to sing my requiem then. For now, I'm just gonna enjoy the ride.

[yellow-faerie]

Possible thought for Legolas/Sauron ship fix idea: "incredibly suspicious engament ring" --i mean, we are talking about the literal Lord of the Rings here :s

Ooh! The thoughts and headcanons that have been bouncing around since my last snippet have given me ideas for this one! I’ll try my best to put it all into a cohesive story. It sort of...derailed from the rings, sorry about that.

Legolas gently trails his fingers over the curtain of willow branches as he wanders aimlessly through the greenhouse.

It was kind of Mairon to create this little space of green for him, to go to all the effort of designing the lights and the panels and to give him the seeds and the soil.

He’s good to you.

Legolas rolls his eyes. “Maybe. But is is only so he can keep us docile.”

He knows this, he isn’t stupid. His captor holds no love for him and he holds no love for his captor. They were to be married only for the continued fealty of Mirkwood and the protection of the rest of the Fellowship.

He didn’t have to take you up on your offer, his sister says. There was no real reason for him to. He likes you, Las: you’re just being too stubborn to see it.

“I’m not. I’m being realistic: whatever he or I may feel is irrelevant to the situation and makes everything far too messy.”

You admitted to loving him the other day and he said he reciprocated your feelings. How could you possibly continue to be so blind after that?

Legolas turns the ring on his finger around as he has started to do when he is anxious. The warm friction of metal against skin does something that makes him feel calmer and more clear-headed.

“I suppose you may be right,” He concedes and sighs, perching on the edge of a nearby flowerbed. “I just cannot see why.”

“Why what?”

He looks up and blinks. “Oh, my L - Mairon.” He pushes himself upright and bows politely.

Mairon smiles, a soft thing that sounds vaguely threatening. He waves a hand. “There’s no need for such formality, my precious little leaf.” He sweeps forward and cups Legolas’ cheek with his hand. “Are you talking to yourself again?”

“Well, I suppose the hallucination of my sister counts as ‘myself’.”

Mairon face freezes, his small smile becoming fixed. Legolas can feel his heart drop and his insides squirm around until they have landed in a place that makes him feel like he may throw up at the slightest provocation.

And then Mairon, dark Lord of Middle Earth, laughs. He pats Legolas’ cheek and presses a kiss to his forehead. “You should speak your mind more often.”

Legolas is too shocked at the swerve of change and the violent upheaval in his body to reply with anything more than what is really just a squeak.

“Well, now I am sure you are quite OK, I should be returning. You know where to find me should you need me.”

Legolas nods. Once the door slides shut behind him, it takes all of Legolas’ willpower to not just immediately fall into a boneless puddle on the floor.

He slumps back against the flower bed and slides down the side to the tiles ground. He turns the ring around and around and around, wishing he really had his sister to talk to - the actual thing, not just a voice in his head.

“You were worrying too much.”

He looks up sharply. Navril’s voice - decidedly outside of his head - is attached to the actual body of his sister, wearing flowing gold robes, decorated with images of eyes sewn in deep red threads.

Except it’s not his sister, is it? Navril is far away in the Greenwood and she would never willingly wear clothes like that.

He leans back and closes his eyes. “Oh. Good. Now I’m hallucinating you properly.”

“Yeah, well, it’s better than hearing things. Go big or go home, right?” There is a rustle of fabric. “You think too much Las. Just let it all be for once. Mairon was perfectly fine just then and you technically stepped out of line. He wouldn’t let just anyone do that.”

The ghost of a hand drifts over his cheek and he resists the urge to lean into it. If he tries, he can imagine he’s back in their garden at home and gossiping about the latest news around the palace: arguing over who’s right about who’s in love with who.

Except it was never them they were talking about.

Legolas drags his legs up and buries his face in his knees. He wants to go home where everything makes sense.

Something brushes over his hand where the ring sits. The feeling of homesickness fades away.

“It’s not so bad here. You live in comfort and Mairon loves you. What more could you want?”

What more could he...?

He doesn’t know. He doesn’t...he tries to think but all he can see is Mairon’s soft smile, feel his warm embrace, smell the ashes and honey that hangs around him.

He opens his eyes to the bright light of the greenhouse and finds it empty. He can’t remember why he thought it wouldn’t be.